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The ACLU says an Army vet who grew up in Koreatown is in danger of deportation
U.S. Army veteran Yea Ji Sea stands outside a federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles ahead of a hearing to determine whether the government needs to speed up her citizenship application.
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Libby Denkmann / KPCC
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The ACLU says an Army vet who grew up in Koreatown is in danger of deportation
A U.S. Army veteran who grew up in Koreatown wants to become a U.S. citizen, but her application has been stalled for over two years.
A U.S. Army veteran who grew up in Koreatown wants to become a U.S. citizen, but her application has been stalled for over two years.
29-year-old Yea Ji Sea first moved to the U.S. from South Korea when she was 9 years old. She later joined the Army through the MAVNI program, which offered a fast-track to citizenship for immigrants with special language and medical skills.
The Army discharged her earlier this month. That’s when the ACLU sued , asking the government to act on her application because she’s now vulnerable for deportation.
On Tuesday a federal judge set a September 5 deadline for the government to respond to Sea's application for naturalization.
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In recent months, dozens of MAVNI recruits have been discharged and faced deportation. Some of them sued, and in July the Army suspended involuntary separations while the Department of Defense conducts a review.
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